Naked Gold Medal Wines

8 of your Angel-funded wines just won prestigious awards at the San Francisco Chronicle wine competition, and we wanted to give a round of applause to the winemakers who won (and some context on why this is so cool).

• ROX Scott Peterson Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma 2013 – DOUBLE GOLD
• DRG Daryl Rex Groom Highmark Ridge Russian River Pinot Noir 2014 – GOLD
• Jim Olsen & Tom Shula Pickberry Merlot 2014 – GOLD
• ROX Scott Peterson Pinot Noir Russian River Valley 2014 – SILVER
• Bridget Raymond Intertwine Napa Valley Merlot 2014 – SILVER
• DRG Daryl Rex Groom River Road Ranch Russian River Pinot Noir 2014 – SILVER
• W. Donaldson Blanc de Blancs – SILVER
• Ken Deis and Derek Rohlffs Dry Creek Valley Sonoma County Zinfandel 2014 – SILVER

Special shout outs

Only 5% of the over 7,100 entrants won double gold medals, so Scott deserves an especially big clap on the back. Hurrah! (For number nerds and curious folk, I did some quick math and it looks like less than 24% of entrants even get a bronze medal, so all of these are high marks of distinction!)

The other one that deserves a special shout out is Tom Shula. Thanks to Angels, he’s gone from amateur home winemaker to standing shoulder to shoulder with wines BV, Grgich, and Cakebread – and winning gold medals to boot! Booyah!

And the icing on the cake!!!

These wines were all judged based on their LIST prices.

• ROX Sonoma Cab won a double gold competing against other wines that cost $43-46.99!!! Angels get it for $19.99 – just sayin’
• Pickberry Merlot won gold against wines that cost $34.99, Angels get it for $15.99
• DRG Highmark Ridge Pinot won gold against wines that cost $39.99, Angels pay $18.99
• You get the idea

As always, Angel prices stay the same

Sometimes, you see wine prices soar when a wine is in high demand because of awards and recognition. But Angel prices are based on the true cost of making the wine, so they’ll hold steady.

Despite the gold medals. And despite the fact that most of these wines sold out in less than 45 days!

PS – No winemakers were harmed

Angels know that we do not want winemakers wasting money on marketing and sales. This naturally includes competition fees which can be quite expensive – submitting your whole range can often cost several hundred dollars which is a lot for a small winemaker and small run wine. But we cover all these expenses for the winemaker and do not take it from their funding pot. That’s why the wines can be so affordable for Angels.

If you want to taste some of these gold medal wines, you should:

• Make sure you’re an Angel so you get the best pricing on the wine (and support the winemaker)
• And follow the winemakers so that you can get updates about when their wines are back in stock.
  • Scott Peterson
  • Tom Shula & Jim Olsen
  • Daryl Groom
  • Bridget Raymond
  • Ken & Derek
  • Wayne Donaldson